Potty training

It happened.  Today is the day I took on what has seemed to be impossible.  POTTY TRAINING.

My friend Shanna mentioned a book that her entire family loves for potty training and was kind enough to loan it to me along with some "potty dolls" as I call them.  They are dolls that actually are 'fed' water and 'pee' in the potty.  I read all 175+ pages in about 24 hours and ran to the store for a few supplies Monday night and decided that Tuesday was the day.  

Apron with pockets

Potty treats

A list of people who would be thrilled that they use the potty

Arrangements for Ethan to spend the morning (at least) at Tiffany's house while I worked exclusively with Sydney

Lots of exciting drinks (my kids were thrilled to have a bottomless supply of chocolate almond milk and juice boxes)

Oversized underwear (borrowed, yes I am cheap)

Sydney and I hung out in the kitchen for about 3 hours.  We didn't go into any other room.  I taught her to use the potty, empty it herself, wash her hands, and take care of any messes.  We 'practiced' as the book recommends when she had an accident (only 2 of those) and taught the doll how to the use the potty as well.  Sydney was so afraid of the potty that I sat on the ground and hugged her for about 20 minutes before she went once!  My sister posed as Minnie Mouse on the phone and my dad as Mickey Mouse so she could share the good news with her favorite celebrities.  Her face lit up when she heard Minnie's voice telling her what a great job she had done.  It was the only thing I could think of to get her over her terror after she'd first peed.

I was shocked when she went 3 times on her own and emptied the potty chair and washed her hands without ANY prompting from me all within 3 hours.  She was amazing.

Ethan came home and went straight to the kitchen while I chatted with Tiffany.  I then realized what he would be doing and laughed and said to Tiffany, "I am sure Ethan is in there drinking all of Sydney's special drinks.  Ethan would drink all of his meals if I let him.  I had to urge Sydney to take sips of drinks for those 3 hours and Ethan downed all of them in minutes while I updated Tiffany on Sydney's progress at the front door!

He instantly wanted 'in' on the action at 3 pm and was in underwear and doing great by bedtime.

I kept track of all of Sydney's potty checks, accidents, and successes.  It was SO helpful to know a history of how often she needed to go and know when to prepare for an accident.  I had to snap a photo of my chart before throwing it out because it was so important to her progress.  I love this book.

They didn't do well that night, so we are in pull-ups at night right now until I can get up the courage to try again.  They've had a few accidents here and there, but are doing really well.  I am glad I did it, but I am ready to get out of the house!